ALLEN PARK -- Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz has wanted to add size to his secondary for several years, but did not believe the time was right.

The Lions were forced to settle on smaller cornerbacks, such as Alphonso Smith (5-foot-9), Aaron Berry (5-foot-11) and Eric Wright (5-foot-10) over the past few seasons. All three players were competitive, but their lack of size was often exploited during big plays against Detroit's defense.

Detroit's effort to get bigger is very evident now.

Last year, the Lions drafted Chris Greenwood (6-foot-1) and Jonte Green (6-foot) in an effort to add size. Detroit also added Ron Bartell (6-foot-1) late last season.

In addition, Detroit selected cornerback Darius Slay (6-foot) in the recent NFL draft, and Schwartz's desire to have bigger players has become a reality.

"We've always sort of had that in our profile, but the opportunity to get those guys, you know, there are not many of them out there," Schwartz said. "There are probably a lot more 5-9 and 5-10 guys out there than there are 6-0, 6-1 guys. But all things equal, when you do have more size, it's beneficial for you. You don't want to end up sacrificing speed. You don't want to end up sacrificing toughness and change of direction. I think that's the balance that you have to play there."

"It's tough to play corner," Schwartz said. "I think it's probably the most difficult thing to do in all of sports. You have to run with world-class receivers. You've got to start backwards, and they're going forward. They know where they're running, you don't. You've got to be tough enough to take on pulling guards and running backs and skilled enough and fast enough to cover the elite athletes, guys that are Olympic-caliber speed.

"So, you don't want to sacrifice change of direction or speed for size, but if you have the change of direction and have the speed, then size is definitely beneficial. I think that's been more of our emphasis, trying to find guys that have all of it. They are rare to find, something you have to develop, which we're working on with Chris Greenwood. You know, small school guy but has height and has weight and has a lot of things that we're looking for. Other guys, like you mentioned (Ron) Bartell is a veteran player, we had the opportunity to get, and we were able to plug him in."

As a result, Lions receiver Nate Burleson has noticed the difference during organized team activities (OTAs) this offseason.

"It's even noticeable here at practice," Burleson said. "They're a little lengthy. They have a little more strength. They're able to get their hands on us a little bit more. For us, that prepares us for game day because that is really the only way you can stop this receiving corps is to disrupt us at the line of scrimmage, so it helps us prepare for what we're going to see.

"That's going to help those guys. It gives them a little bit more time, the defensive line, the linebackers, to get to that quarterback and make some plays on the ball. With size and speed on the back end of our defense, it's definitely helpful."